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Damage per second
:Were you looking for the article on the damage dealer? Damage per second (DPS) is a measure of the damage dealt by a person or group over one second. DPS is a more practical measure of damage output than plain damage, as it allows characters of differing levels and classes to effectively compare their damage output. The term dps is also sometimes used to describe the act of applying damage to a target (as in "all dps on the boss" or "stop all dps"), or to refer to a class whose primary role in a group is dealing damage (as in "Arcatraz group needs one more dps to roll"), i.e. damage dealer. Burst DPS "Burst DPS" refers to damage dealt over a relatively short period of time. High burst damage is the preferable form of damage against targets with relatively low health. Most classes have at least a few spells or abilities that generate high damage very quickly. Mages can deal high burst dps due to the high damage caused by some of their spells, such as Fire Blast and Ice lance. Dagger-wielding rogues have several abilities that produce very high damage very quickly, such as Ambush, Backstab, and Mutilate. Enhancement shamans are well-known for their burst capacity thanks to the Windfury procs, which are completed by Shock spells. Sustained DPS "Sustained DPS" refers to constant damage dealt over an extended period of time. High sustained damage is the preferable form of damage against targets with relatively high health. Because their energy regenerates quickly, rogues and Cat Form druids can deal high sustained dps because they can keep fighting as long as they have health. Shamans can deal both burst and medium sustained dps. Enhancement shamans can dual wield, and with a fast offhand weapon, they can keep Flurry and Unleashed Rage up with offhand crits for good sustained dps. On the other hand, a slow 2-handed weapon provides very good Burst dps whenever Windfury procs. Dual-wielding two slow weapons (around 2.6 seconds each) will allow Windfury to proc as much as possible. See the Windfury Weapon article for more details. Paladins have great sustained dps and some have been known to out dps the more "pure" dps classes. When they have the proper buffs and seals active and are geared correctly, Retribution Paladins can deal high amounts of damage for long periods of time. Blizzard has recently buffed the retribution tree to increase Paladins sustained dps so that they are more useful in raids. Warriors and Dire Bear Form Druids are also adept at sustained dps due to the rage system which allows them to use more of their abilities as they gain more rage, which accumulates from both taking and dealing damage. Because of this, they become more deadly as fights continue, whereas other classes that are reliant on mana, such as mages, Moonkin Form Druids, and priests, will occasionally be forced to reduce or halt their attack. Hunters have decent sustained dps, as even when their mana runs low, they do not have to rely on secondary attacks to continue dealing damage. This is in contrast to primary casters, who need to switch to wands (a secondary attack which usually has a much lower DPS rate than casting) to deal damage when out of mana. Warlocks also have very good sustained dps, thanks to their DoT spells. Because Life Tap allows them to exchange health for mana, they can continue casting when other spell-casters must stop casting, which lets them maintain a good level of sustained DPS. Weapon DPS Weapons will often be quoted along with a dps figure. This provides a useful means of comparing weapons; however, your personal dps using that weapon will vary hugely depending on your level, your stats, the mobs you are fighting, and many other factors. Spell DPS Some sites will quote the dps for a spell. This may be calculated as Damage / (Cast Time + Recast Time) or just as (Damage / Cast Time) so be aware of the difference. DPS monitoring tools sometimes struggle with spells due to their one-hit nature, and the ability to cast combinations of spells. With a few more details, spell direct damage DPS may be calculated as: DPS = Hit Chance * ( Base Damage + Plus Damage * Casting Time(pre-talents)/3.5 ) * ( 1 + Critical Damage Bonus% * Crit Chance ) * Casting Time(post-talents) / (1 + Spell Haste%) and spell DOT damage may be calculated as: TBD Calculation of DPS To calculate the dps on a weapon you need two things, Speed and Damage. Here's an example: Gladiator's Painsaw, 208 - 313 Damage, 2.20 Speed First, calculate the weapon's average damage: (208 + 313) / 2 = 260.5 Next, divide the average damage by the weapon's speed: 260.5 / 2.2 = 118.4090909... So the weapon's base DPS is 118.4. The information delivered in the tooltip on your paper doll window does not take into account hit rate. Some addons do, and may display the total average dps in a tooltip. Additional notes * UI modifications (such as Cosmos among many others) include tools to enable players to track their dps. Category:Game terms